Him God's mercies combine His
love can never decline And He loves me To Calvary's hymn Until one day the Lord was led
away, none else the price could pay. He on the cross was slain Yielding
his life in pain And he felt the bitter stain For all my sin Oh, what a Savior is mine In
Him God's mercies combine And He loves me Was ever love so strong? Was ever crime so wrong? When Jesus suffered my greatest need became my lord
indeed. Through him I have been freed
of all my sins. For what a Savior is mine In Him God's
mercies combine His love will never decline And he loves me. Would you turn with me to Numbers
chapter 21? beginning in verse 4, And they journeyed from Manhor
by the way of the Red Sea to compass the land of Edom. And
the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against
God and against Moses, Wherefore have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither
is there any water, and our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people. And much people of
Israel died, Therefore, the people came to
Moses and said, we have sinned for we have spoken
against the Lord and against thee. Pray unto the Lord that
he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the
people. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. And it shall
come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon
it shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it upon a pole And it came to pass that if a serpent
had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived. I've entitled this message revival. Revival. There is such a thing
as revival. It could be God giving a dead
sinner life. It could be God giving a whole
lot of dead sinners life. When Peter preached on Pentecost,
God the Holy Spirit used that message to bring 3,000 people
to Christ. It could be in this thing of
revival where he takes one of his people who have turned away
from him and brings them back. James said, brethren, he's speaking
to brothers, brethren. If any man, if any of you do
air from the truth. do go astray from the truth. And one converting, he's turned. Wouldn't that be a blessing?
I pray that both of these things will take place. That those who
are dead in sins will be given life. And those who have turned
away from the Lord will be brought back through this reviving. Now this thing of revival is a scriptural concept. I think
of the writer Habakkuk saying, revive thy work in the midst
of years, oh Lord. You know, if the Lord's done
something for you, you know your salvation's his work, don't you?
And you say, revive it. bring it back to life. David
said in Psalm 86 5, will thou not revive us again, O Lord? The word also translated quicken,
give me life. You know, the only way you can
understand anything about death and needing life is if you got
life. And if you got life, you know what you're gonna say? Give
me life, quicken me, quicken me. You know, in the 119th Psalm,
nine times we read where the psalmist said, quicken me, oh
Lord. And David said in Psalm 143,
verse 11, quicken me, oh Lord, for thy names sake. That's the reason I'm asking
you to do it. Not because of anything in me, but for thy names
sake. Revive me. Cause me to live. You feel like you're dying. Give me life. It's also translated recover
as in recovering from an illness. And this word is actually found
over 260 times in the old Testament alone. This idea of give me life,
quicken me. Revive me. Now, before we get
to our text, let's look at the way the Lord used this in John
chapter three. I'm going to be coming back to
this, but in John chapter three. Verse 14. The Lord is speaking to Nicodemus,
and I have no doubt Nicodemus is very familiar with this story,
but he didn't have a clue as to what it meant. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, what we just read about, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have eternal life. Back to our text, verse
eight of numbers 21. And the Lord said unto Moses,
make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole. And it shall
come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon
it shall live. If by the grace of God, you and
I are enabled to look upon that fiery serpent, we will live. If you're an unbeliever, this message is for you. This
is what you need more than anything else. You need to look to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now somebody says, well, how
can I look to him if I can't see him? I'm an unbeliever. Well,
it doesn't say see Christ, does it? You weren't told to see the
serpent. You were to look to the serpent. And if you look
to the serpent, you will see. Don't? I don't see. I don't have any doubt that if
a blind Israelite pointed his eyeball of sockets to that brazen
serpent, he would have seen. What do you need worse than anything
else? What do I need more than anything
else? To actually behold the Lord Jesus
Christ, to look to Him. God said, look to me and be ye
saved. All the ends of the earth, for
I am God and beside me is none else. Look. If you're a believer who perhaps
have lost your first love. Like the church at Ephesus. Or
you've become tolerant of what God hates, like the church of
Pergamos. and the church at Thyatira. Or
perhaps you're living in the past, like the church at Sardis,
looking back to an old experience, an old time when you learned
something. He said, you got a name that you live, but you're dead. Or perhaps like the church at
Laodicea, lukewarm, saying, I'm rich and increased with goods
and have need of nothing. And the Lord said, you don't
know that you're poor and wretched and blind and miserable and naked. Oh, what I need right now, what
you need, whatever your state, whether you're a believer or
whether you're an unbeliever is to look to the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, what in the world does that
mean? to look to Christ. I hope that we can get some idea
of that tonight. Now for me to understand this
thing of being revived and given life, we first have to have some
understanding of declension, of going backwards. You know,
when you're revived, that means you live, As far as your experience
goes at the point of death, I realize that one who has spiritual life
can never become dead in sins again and then live again. I
realize that, but I'm talking about as far as our experience
goes. Have you ever felt dead in sins? Have you ever felt,
I must not be saved? How can I be this way? How can
I think these things? How can I do these things? How
can I commit the same sin over and over again? Am I saved or
am I dead in sins? I want to know. I need revived. I need quickened. I need God
to do something for me. My salvation is his work. Revive
thy work, oh Lord, in the midst of years. Now let's look at these people
and see if they describe us. Verse four, and they journeyed
from Mount Hoar. by the way of the Red Sea to
compass the land of Edom and the soul of the people was much
discouraged because of the way. The way of grace, the way of
Christ, the way of righteousness, the way that excludes all other
ways, and yet it says the people were much discouraged because
of the way. Things hadn't happened the way
they thought it would happen. They were disillusioned. They
were disappointed. Why, they were angry. We didn't
sign up for this. I'm not happy. You know, that's a real stupid
thing to say. It is. But that's where they were at.
Discouraged. You know, my marginal reading
says shortened. They became short-sighted. They
no longer were able to see the big picture. All they saw was
what's going on right now, and I'm not happy. Judge not the Lord by feeble
sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face. Now remember who these people
were. These people were the same people who were delivered from
Egypt. They saw God bring them out with
a mighty hand. These people became much discouraged
because of the way. They saw the Red Sea part, and
they walked through there on dry land, looking at the walls
of water on either side. You reckon they knew that salvation
was of the Lord? They sure did. They totally believe
salvation was of the Lord. These are the same people that
had manna come down from heaven and feed them. A glorious type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the same people that
drank water that came out of that rock. Another glorious type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. These are people who had received
the law from the Through God giving it to Moses, they had
seen so much, and yet here they are. Discouraged because of the
way. Bad people. Amen. Know anybody like them? Discouraged because of the way. Verse five, and the people spake
against God and against Moses. They became judges and critics
of God and Moses. That's a dangerous place to be. Judges and critics finding fault
with God's providence, discouraged and finding fault with Moses,
God's spokesman. The two things always go in hand.
When you find fault with God, you're going to find fault with
anybody who preaches the gospel. It's just going to happen. And they became overwhelmed with
a spirit of criticism. They murmured against God and
they murmured against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us
out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? Now, is that why I brought him
out of Egypt? to take them out there to kill them in the wilderness?
You know better than that. He brought them out to save them,
to make himself known to them. But whenever you're in, or whenever
I'm in a state of decline, we just don't see reality, do we?
We don't see things as they really are. We can't. Look what is said
next. For there is no bread, Neither
is there any water. Wait a minute. They had manna
that very morning and they drank water from the rock. Now you see, when I'm in a state
of decline, how I perceive things, they're real to me. When they
said that, they meant it. We don't have any bread. We don't
have any water. They meant it. That was their
perception of things. But it was all based upon falsehood,
wasn't it? As a matter of fact, they talked
about that light bread they had. Our souls loathe this light bread. That which is not true became
their reality. I feel funny saying something
like this, um, but I've been preaching over 36, 37 years. I've got some experience. I've
had, um, gosh, that sounds stupid. I didn't, uh, forgive me for
saying that. I don't even know what I'm trying to say is this over the years, I've been accused
many times of not preaching the gospel. Many times. You don't preach the gospel.
Somebody has got upset about something and I don't preach
the gospel. Now, I do preach the gospel. But to that person,
I'm not preaching the gospel. That's how they hear. Something
is wrong. That's how they perceive things.
We don't have any bread, we don't have any water, and our souls
loathe this light bread, this manna that came down from heaven.
It's now light bread. At one time it was angel's food.
At one time, it tasted like wafers and honey. And it was the best
thing they'd ever tasted. They were so grateful. They were
so amazed. Every time they'd go out in the morning to gather
in the manna, it was such a glorious picture. They could only take
one day at a time. They couldn't get two days worth. Just one
day at a time. What a glorious picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the manna from heaven. Oh, it tasted so
good. Did the taste change? Did the content of the manna
change in any way? No, they changed. They changed. Our souls loathe
this light bread. It's not enough to satisfy. It's
insubstantial. It can't really do anything.
We're tired of it. What once was so beautiful and
glorious and amazing and miraculous now has become light bread. The gospel was no longer enough
to satisfy them. It had become dry. Well, the preacher's getting
dry. Anybody that knows, have you
ever been dry, Chris? No, he's not. He may be, but
perhaps you're the one that's become dry. Could that be? Dry doctrine. Again, that which is not true
has become our reality. All of a sudden, people we once
highly esteemed are now criticized, and we see every fault and flaw.
Why? We've changed. We've changed. Now, such were
these people. They had experienced so much
at God's hand, but now they've changed. Now, let me
ask you a question. What would have happened to those
people if God did not send those fiery serpents? What would happen? They would continue to get worse
and worse and worse. You see revival begins with what
God does. He sent the fiery serpents and
what a blessing this was. You say, how could that be a
blessing when so many people were killed? Well, listen, you'll,
you'll say it's a blessing. This is where revival begins.
Revival begins with God. You know, one of my favorite
books in the Bible is the book of Hebrews, and the reason I
love that book is the way it begins. God. God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past to the fathers by the prophets.
God. Revival begins with God. Quicken
me, O Lord. Lord, do something for me. Give
me life. Give me a heart to believe. Give
me a broken heart. Give me eyes to behold Christ.
Give me a heart to rest in Him and to trust Him and to look
to Him only. Do something for me. It begins
with God. But what did God do? Look in
verse six. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people and they bit the people. And much people of
Israel died. Now, I can't imagine a more miserable
environment. Can you? Snakes? I mean, who here likes snakes?
Not many of you. And can you imagine having a
bunch of them coming into the camp? Thousands, millions. coming in and they're poisonous. And you're in your tent and all
of a sudden you see one come in, you take something and kill
it. All of a sudden you're trying to get all the places in your
tent to protect you so they can't get in. You're doing whatever
you can to keep away from those snakes. Of course, what a horrible
position. I can't imagine anything more
terrible than to have a, can you imagine going to bed at night
and knowing one of those things might get up in your bed? They bit
many of the people. Much people of Israel died. And
I think of the poison in their veins and the pain that was created
by that and their powerlessness to deliver themselves. Once they
were bitten, that was it. They were going to die. They
were in trouble. I can't imagine a more horrible
scenario than this time with these fiery snakes coming in
and biting the people and much people of Israel died. You know
what? They deserved it. They deserved it. Didn't they?
I mean, this wicked attitude, this horrible unbelief, they
deserved it. Verse 7, Therefore the people came to
Moses, these same people who were so guilty, but what a blessing
these snakes had been to them, because now look, therefore the
people came to Moses and said, we have sinned. Now, when God does something
for somebody, here's the first thing that comes out of their
mouth. We have sinned. They had been justifying themselves,
complaining, murmuring against God, finding fault with God.
Now, all of a sudden their way of thinking has completely changed.
We have sinned. This is the confession of sin.
Now let me tell you four things that take place when somebody
really confesses their sin. Now let me tell you what the
confession of sin is not. It's not when you go to bed at
night and you try to think of the bad things you did and try to name
them and you've confessed it. That's not the confession of
sin. That's some kind of religious exercise of futility. For one
thing, you don't know what they all are anyway. And you don't
have enough time in the day to confess. So I'm sure that's not
what it is. It's not just audibly naming
your sins before God. What is it to confess your sin?
Well, number one, when you confess your seniors, you say my sin
is all my fault. I can't blame anyone else. I
can't blame anything else. It's all my fault. I can't blame
the sovereignty of God. I can't blame my mom and dad.
I can't blame the way I was raised. I can't blame my circumstances.
My sin is all my fault. Now let me tell you this, until
your sin is all your fault, you'll never ask for mercy. If it's God's fault, He owes
you. If it's your fault, All your
fault. You will ask for mercy. Secondly,
when we confess our sin, we take sides with God against ourselves. I'm on his side. Whatever he
says is right. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? We take sides with God against
ourselves. And when we confess our sin,
we justify God in all that he does. David said against thee,
and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when
you judge. If you send me to hell, just
and holy is your name. You justify God in all that he
does. He's right. And I'm wrong. Holy and Reverend is his name. But I want you to notice this
real carefully. Look in verse seven, therefore the people came
to Moses and said, we've sinned for we've spoken against the
Lord and against thee, praying to the Lord that he will enable
us to defeat these serpents, that he will enable us to get
rid of these serpents, that he will enable us to fight off these
serpents and kill these serpents. What did they pray? What did
they pray? Pray unto the Lord that He take
away the serpents from us. You've never confessed. I've
never confessed my sin unless I've seen there's absolutely
nothing I can do about my sin. He's going to have to take it
away. You believe that? 1 John chapter 3 verse 5 says,
He was manifested to take away our sins. And in Him is no sin. How come? He took them away. They're not! They're gone. Now, the publican in the temple,
when he was confessing his sin, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. That word merciful is propitious. God, do something about my sin. Be propitious toward my sin.
Put it away, blot it out, cancel it, make it to where it's no
more. I can't do anything about it. Would you take away my sin? Now that's what they prayed for. Lord Moses. Yeah. I like the
way they Moses pray for us. We can't come to God. Not the
way we are. You pray for us. We wouldn't
dare come on our own. Pray for us. Would you like to
have Moses praying for you? I'd tell you somebody I'd rather
have praying for me. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter, I prayed for you. Oh,
if he prayed for you, everything's great. Isn't it? But he comes
to Moses. They prayed to the Lord for us
that he take away those Snakes. Now you can imagine how
much, how long did this last? Was it
one day, a week, a month with these fiery snakes, but you can
imagine all the different things they do trying to protect themselves
from these snakes. Get rid of these snakes. So verse
eight, Moses prayed for the people and the Lord said unto Moses,
Make thee a fiery serpent and set it upon a pole and it shall
come to pass that everyone that is bitten when he looketh upon
it shall live. Now we know from the ninth verse
that the serpent was a serpent of brass, copper and tin representing, I believe, the
two natures of Christ, the divine nature and the human nature,
the perfect human nature and the divine nature of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now it was a serpent without
venom though. Christ, Never sinned. It was a serpent without venom,
but it was a fiery serpent. He was a fiery serpent. Christ
bore the poison, the fire of sin. He said, you make you a
fiery serpent and you set it on a pole and tell everybody,
look at me. No. We weren't to look at Moses. We weren't to look to our wounds.
I think people try to atone for their sins for how bad, oh my
sin is so bad and I'm just, you've seen people do that. You've done
it yourself. Oh, I try to make yourself miserable and repent
and feel bad and all that kind of stuff that somehow that's
going to atone for my sin. He didn't say look at your wounds.
He didn't say look at the serpents and figure out how to get rid
of them. No, you were to look to that one serpent on a pole. That's it. That's it. Anything else? No, no. You look, what must we do to
work the works of God? This is the work of God that
you believe on him whom he hath sent. What else? That's all. Look. Look. I can't see. Look. If I say, look at me, does anybody
in here think, what's he talking about? Verse nine, and Moses made a
serpent of brass and put it upon a pole. Hold your finger there and let's
go back to John chapter three for a moment. Verse 14, and as Moses lifted
up the serpent, In the wilderness, even so, what's that next word? Must the son of man be lifted
up. Now, why must the Lord Jesus
Christ be crucified? Let me give you three reasons.
Number one, because it was God's purpose. He's the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, and He must be crucified. Number two, because God is just. And the sins of God's elect actually
became His sins, so that He was guilty of them. And the wrath
of God and the judgment of God demanded for Him to be punished. And thirdly, because God is love. God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life. You know, in looking, may
God give me grace to enter into what I'm saying. In looking to
Christ, I see the end of sin and I see the end of sin. I see
the end of sin. How evil and ungodly it is and
how bad it is. You look to the cross. And I
see the end of sin. He made an end of sin. Back to our text. We see what
our Lord said about that. And Moses made a serpent of brass
and put it upon a pole. And it came to pass that If a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of
brass, he lived. Now that's life. He was revived
when he beheld the serpent of brass. Now somebody says, what
does it mean to look to Christ? I mean, I can't see him. And there's nothing much to look
into that brazen serpent. I mean, in the sense that a few
hundred years later, Hezekiah had a ground to powder because
the people were worshiping it. What does the brazen serpent
represent? What does it mean to look to
Christ? I can be very simple about this.
You look to Christ when you see that who he is makes him able
to save you. You really believe that He's
God and He's man and He's able to save you with absolutely no
contribution from you. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, you look to Christ when you really believe that
He is able to save you. Do you believe that? Paul said,
I know whom I believed and I am persuaded that He is able. To look to Christ is to really
believe that He is able to save you. To look to Christ is to
believe. that His righteousness is the
only righteousness you possess. His life is your life before
God. The only thing you want brought
up on Judgment Day is everything that happened in Matthew, Mark,
Luke, and John. His obedience. His perfect righteousness. You really believe that His life
is the only life you have. It's the only righteousness you
have. You really believe that and you're relying on that. You look to Christ when you really
believe that His death is your sin payment. And you don't sing, Jesus paid
a half the other half out. You sing, Jesus paid it all. All the debt I owe. Sin had left
a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. You
really believe? that when He said it is finished,
His precious blood actually put away sin, made the payment. And I need no other argument.
I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. You look to Christ when you look
nowhere but His precious blood. We are saying it. What can wash
away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You look to Christ when you believe that His resurrection is your
justification. He was delivered for our offenses.
He was raised again for our justification. When He was raised from the dead,
God said, I'm satisfied with Him. I can ask for no more. And I can accept. no less. That's when you look to Christ. You look to Christ when his intercession is the only
way you'll be preserved day by day. You really believe that.
You believe that your daily walk is only as He cleanses you and
saves you for Christ's sake, cleanses your sins every day.
You walk through this world, you get your feet dirty. You're
clean before Him, but your feet get dirty, and you know that.
And you look to Christ when you believe the only reason you persevere
and continue is because of His intercession. I've prayed for you. And you
know the intercession of Christ, remember this, it's not, well,
Lord, he did it, Father, he did it again, forgive him again,
and he did it again, forgive, no, he just stands before the
Father, that's all that needs to be said. I'm cleansed daily. And you look to Christ when you
look to His return as your glorification. When He shall return, we'll be
like Him, because we'll see Him as He is. You think that there's
such glory in His person that just to see Him will make you
perfectly conform to His image. One final thought. John 3, 14. Once again, turn with me there. You see the word lifted up? As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. That word lifted up is the same
word that's always translated exalted. Read it like this. And as Moses
exalted the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
exalted. that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have eternal life. Life comes from a look. May God grant us that look. Is that too simple? The Lord said, and I, if I be
lifted up, draw men to myself. Zechariah put it like this, when
the spirit of grace and supplication is poured out on the house of
David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, they shall look
unto him whom they have pierced and mourn after him as one mourneth
for his only son. Do you see Christ on Calvary's
cross for you? Did your sin pierce Him? Lord, I support out spirit of
grace and supplication in my heart tonight. I hope He has
in yours. And so look forward to coming back together again
tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock. Let's stand together, Brother
Tom. You're going to lead us in a closing hymn, number 199. Number
199. Thank you. sinners Jesus will receive sound
this word of grace to all who the heavenly pathway leave all
who live Sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ, receive the sinful
man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive the sinful man. Come and He will give you rest. Trust Him, for His word is plain. He will take the sinful last. Christ, receive a sinful man. Sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ, receive a sinful man. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receiveth sinful men. Now my heart condemns me not,
pure before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot,
satisfied its last demand, sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ receiveth sinful men,
Make the message clear and plain, Christ receiveth sinful men. Christ receiveth sinful men,
even me with all my sin. Purged from every spot and stain,
heaven with Him I enter in. Sing it o'er and o'er again,
Christ received with sinful men. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ received with sinful men. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we thank You for what we've heard tonight. We thank You for gathering
us together in this place. We thank You, Lord, for giving
to us ears to hear and for teaching us once again about Thy glorious
Son, His accomplished work, our need for Him. We thank You for
the fear of God that You placed in our hearts. Lord, we ask that
your Holy Spirit would strive with us, that you would cause
us to remember and to reflect, to meditate upon Christ, to set
our affections on things above where Christ is seated at the
right hand of God. We pray that you keep us safe and cause us,
Lord, to enjoy this blessing once again tomorrow. Prepare
our hearts for what we would hear. Prepare these men for what
they would say. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you.